


With Head and Heart

by Mareel



Series: Grace Notes [2]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canada, F/M, Family, Gen, Homework, Music, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:54:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23321260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mareel/pseuds/Mareel
Summary: Sometimes homework gets in the way of the important things - like playing music!
Relationships: Kaidan Alenko's Father/Kaidan Alenko's Mother
Series: Grace Notes [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/990384
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	With Head and Heart

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a small glimpse of pre-teen Kaidan and his family.
> 
> This takes place in the pre-canon "Overture" AU, and precedes the "Overture" story. Kaidan is eleven years old, growing up at the family orchard in the British Columbia interior. 
> 
> It is Michael Alenko's voice. 
> 
> Written for Team Virmire Week 2020 - topic "Pre-Normandy"

It's a deliberately dramatic sigh.

“This stuff is dumb… why do I need to learn all of this? I should be practicing! I just want to play music, and I need to work on that Bach Sonata....”

Elena and I exchange glances across the kitchen. She tilts her head toward Kaidan, working at the kitchen table, and the message to me is clear - I should field this question from our son.

I give it a moment, both to gather my thoughts and to be sure it’s not just a rhetorical question or a general complaint about homework. But Kaidan seems to be waiting for an answer. 

“What _stuff_ are you working on?” 

He waves a hand theatrically at the screen in front of him, filled with equations. “ _This_ stuff… maths, physics… all that.”

Despite his disdain, Kaidan is good at it. His teachers have confirmed that, even suggesting that he take some more advanced classes with an engineering focus. But between his passion for music and the amount of classroom time he has to miss because of his headaches and medical issues, we’ve never pushed him in that direction. But he does love playing Bach... interestingly, that most mathematical of composers. 

At the moment, there’s not much point in trying to justify doing the homework for its own sake. It’s what it is. So I take another approach. “You like watching the stars, right?”

Caught off guard, he nods agreement, his eyes and voice softening. “Yeah, the stars... it's like they call to me… I wish I could see them closer up, you know?”

“Yes, I get it. I’ve always been drawn to them, too. Always wanted to know what’s out there. That’s probably why I decided to learn to fly and eventually joined the Alliance… to get a chance to maybe see the stars.” Hoping I’ve caught his interest, I continue. “But I had to know something about astronomy… and astrophysics. And definitely had to learn some engineering to be able to pilot a Navy ship.”

Kaidan runs a hand through his unruly dark curls, pushing a few locks away from his eyes absently. “But you studied music too…”

“I did. I loved playing the horn and never wanted to stop doing that. I just had to learn the other things as well. You never know what you’re going to need or want to know… someday."

Elena adds her thoughts. “Don’t forget that you also learned how to grow fruit trees, Michael…”

I have to laugh at that. “Well, I never studied that. I just followed my dad and my uncles around the orchard. Kind of like you do, Kaidan… when you aren’t slipping away to play your violin to the trees and bees in the peach grove.” Hoping that doesn’t sound like criticism, I quickly add, “That’s a good place to play… I’m glad you found it!” 

“Yeah… I like playing there.” He looks toward his mother, explaining. “It’s not real practice there, you know. Just playing music from my head.”

Elena has moved to stand behind him, rubbing his shoulders gently. “And that’s always a good thing to do, little one… to play from your head… and from your heart.” 

He glances up at his mother with a hint of a smile. “Yeah… that too.”

_Bach is like an astronomer who, with the help of ciphers, finds the most wonderful stars_ \- Frederic Chopin 

**Author's Note:**

> Music - 
> 
> [Bach – Violin Sonata no.1 presto (4/4) ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFfi0gxL6_Y)
> 
> [Rimsky-Korsakov - Flight of the Bumblebee](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtAu7xkwNjQ)
> 
> Note - Young Kaidan loves the 'baton' the conductor here is using toward the end of the piece - it's his favorite recording of this piece


End file.
